


The Edge of Loyalty

by infidusfiles



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Anal Fingering, Body Worship, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, M/M, Oral Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-06 01:26:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21218270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infidusfiles/pseuds/infidusfiles
Summary: Hubert doesn't deal with his failures well.





	The Edge of Loyalty

Hubert wound his fingers through Ferdinand's soft waves, tilting Ferdinand’s face just enough to press kisses along the man’s jaw. It had been too long since they had been in private and able to explore each other like this, weeks since he had watched Ferdinand fall in the throne room and realized that there was a piece of him left to shatter. If it hadn't been for Linhardt he didn’t know where he would be. Most likely in the depths of his estate, draining the blood of every vile creature involved in the plot, tortured by the knowledge that in protecting his Emperor he had failed to protect his heart. Instead he was here, in his manor's bed, able to lave his tongue over the jump in Ferdinand’s pulse and feel the warmth of his life.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He was a member of House Vestra, created to serve his liege above all else. He was meant to love no one but his Emperor, to marry and produce heirs only to protect her progeny. House Vestra existed because House Hresvelg did, and though it was his father who had betrayed what the very man had beaten into him first, Hubert had long ago internalized that lesson. Which was what made Ferdinand such a marvel to have panting into his mouth, keening at having his lower lip caught between Hubert’s teeth. Somewhere along the way, Ferdinand had climbed the ladder of Hubert’s esteem, and now if Lady Edelgard was the force directing him North then Ferdinand was the axis on which his point spun.

Hubert gently placed a kiss at Ferdinand's temple, and when Ferdinand’s eyes fluttered shut, moved to drop more upon each of his eyelids. Before the attack, Hubert had not given such reverence to Ferdinand’s body, but having stood there and watched the man’s chest rattle with what should have been his final breath, he figured he could allow himself a bit of the extravagance more typically suited to the one below him. Hubert felt Ferdinand shift, trying to push up and catch his mouth, and countered it by trailing a line of kisses down from the center of his forehead. When he reached his lips again, he nudged his tongue into Ferdinand's mouth, swallowing the other's moan.

“There are other areas besides my face for you to focus on,” Ferdinand said as he pulled back, arching his brow and tilting his hips up between the bracket of Hubert’s legs to emphasize his point.

“Indulge me,” Hubert soothed.

Still he acquiesced, moving his hand in Ferdinand’s hair to tip his chin up and carefully nip the skin covering the other's Adam’s apple. There were days years ago when he dreamed of nothing more than wringing the life from his neck. Now the thought of being without Ferdinand filled him with apprehension. A not insignificant part of him wished they had gotten over their petty school squabbles far earlier. Had he realized Ferdinand only truly wanted what was best for their Lady, maybe he would have. 

But Hubert knew there was no use dwelling on the mistakes of his past. Not with Ferdinand’s hands cradling Hubert’s head, pulling him in deeper as he sucked a bruise into the juncture of the man’s neck. Hubert felt the vibrations of his whine and tempered it with a bite, causing Ferdinand’s fingers to spasm against his scalp. Hubert remembered the first time he had tasted the salt of Ferdinand's skin- it had been the most reckless thing he had done since his youth, and Ferdinand had shuddered then like he did now, incandescent with bliss.

Hubert kept up the assault on Ferdinand's neck, knowing he wanted it to be a bloom of red by the time he was done. He wanted to ensure that everyone would see that Ferdinand was desired, protected, and that any who wished to ruin him would be forced to face the owner of those marks. He untangled his hand from Ferdinand's hair and slid it to cup Ferdinand’s pectoral, using the seam of his glove to flick Ferdinand’s nipple into a stiff peak. Once he had succeeded, he followed the path his hand had taken with his mouth, taking advantage of Ferdinand’s sensitive chest. He wondered if Ferdinand would mind if he put his ear to his chest, just to hear the man's heart beat. 

“Hubert, I… ah!” Ferdinand cut himself off with a groan when Hubert twisted both his nipples.

With Ferdinand laid up in bed, adoration clear in his eyes, he could fantasize that they had always been like this. It was easy to pretend that they had never fought in the monastery and that they had always known the intimate pieces of each other. However, it would be a betrayal to ignore all that they went through to get to where they were now. Hubert wondered if Ferdinand knew that he was the first person to ever ask Hubert what he thought for himself, to seek out if he had any thoughts beyond those of a vassal serving their then-princess. The question had sparked something in Hubert that took years to name. 

Ferdinand's chest was a map of scars, soft silver against his skin. There were so many, he wondered if the man could even recall receiving all of them. Hubert knelt, keeping Ferdinand in the V of his open thighs so he could touch the ones he could see with his clothed fingers. There were the starbursts from a dozen or so arrows dotting Ferdinand like a constellation. Some of them Hubert had been there to see him earn, others he had heard of and only confirmed when they had fallen into this. Each one told a story, one that he never thought he would be able to read. If he was honest with himself, before Ferdinand he did not know if there was anyone he would ever want like this. His love for the Emperor was a childhood duty turned choice, but she was always above him. Ferdinand was an equal, one he stood with, not below. 

He dipped his head back down and smirked at the huff Ferdinand gave him. He knew where he was wanted; he felt that desire against his thigh quite clearly. For now though, he was satisfied with tracing Ferdinand's sternum with his tongue. He followed the path down to Ferdinand's belly button, dipping his tongue inside in a facsimile of what he planned to do to Ferdinand's hole. Hubert felt Ferdinand tremble below him, muscles tightening in an effort to keep control of himself. It was rare that Ferdinand would come without a hand on him, but it was possible. Hubert put great effort into hiding how utterly smug it made him to have such an effect on his lover. 

He scooted lower, intending to take Ferdinand's cock into his mouth, only to feel like he had been doused in cold water. There, stretched thin and angry just below his navel, was the mark from the attack. Even though he had spent weeks cleaning the wound and changing bandages, it still managed to hit him like the first time. He had failed, failed the one he adored by not protecting him, and failed the one he served by wishing in that moment that he hadn’t been by her side. Ferdinand had survived by chance, and Hubert was never one to gamble.

“I must have missed the trial while I was healing.” Ferdinand brushed Hubert’s bangs away, gentle in a way Hubert didn’t feel he deserved.

“Trial?” Hubert scoffed, unable to keep the vitriol out of his tone. “We killed our gods, and as I watched you bleed out I had no one with whom to bargain for your life.” He paused, turning to press a kiss into the palm of the hand Ferdinand had placed against the side of his face. “They had no trial.”

Ferdinand froze, the warmth in his eyes evaporating as he processed what Hubert said. 

“They? How many?” he hissed.

Hubert knew better than to answer the question.

“How many died in my name?” Ferdinand leveled him with a look the likes of which Hubert had not seen since the early days at the academy.

Hubert sighed and pulled himself up to be level with Ferdinand. If they were going to have this conversation he refused to do it with Ferdinand’s cock resting against his cheek.

“Ferdinand, we survived a war. I do not know the name of every man and woman who was lost under your command anymore than I know the ones of those who fell to you on the battlefield.” 

“That’s...” Ferdinand looked conflicted. 

“I know… but you nearly died defending our emperor while I was forced to watch. Those involved in the plot against her couldn’t be allowed to walk away.” Hubert stared down into Ferdinand’s eyes, begging him to understand.

Ferdinand kept silent, as if he could tell that Hubert was holding something back. Hubert couldn’t obfuscate the truth from him. They had spent too many nights sharing coffee and tea, too many days in war rooms plotting a victory for their Lady to pretend with one another. Once, when they were new enough that Hubert could still call it a dalliance, he had given Ferdinand a letter containing a list of all the things he had considered a virtue of the man. At the top of it he had written “You see me not as a pawn forced upon Lady Edelgard’s board, but as my own man, choosing to serve her.” Hubert was aware that Ferdinand knew when Hubert made a choice in service of her, and it was obvious he could see that this wasn’t one of them.

“I watched… I watched you die,” Hubert placed a gloved finger to Ferdinand’s lips when he opened his mouth to argue the point.

“You bled out on the stairs to the throne. You held the position while I stood next to Lady Edelgard and watched one of them slice you open. You are only alive because Linhardt managed to stay awake in class long enough to learn to heal at near impossible distances.” Hubert had to make him understand.

“I was not raised with love. I was taught that true devotion is not romantic proclamations and foolish displays, but protection.” He could tell that Ferdinand was barely breathing. That he was piecing together what was left unsaid.

“I failed to protect you. I stood beside the Emperor to ensure she stayed safe, betrayed love for duty, and in doing so left you to die.” Hubert took a deep breath. “Our commitment to our liege meant that you died while I watched.”

Hubert removed his finger from where it was keeping Ferdinand silent and tilted forward to place a tentative kiss on the bow of Ferdinand's lips. A soft goodbye that a part of him always knew he would have to give. He was shocked at how Ferdinand surged up to meet him, sure that Ferdinand would have thrown him out of their bed instead, that in proclaiming both his love and his failure, he had lost that which he held so dearly. Instead Ferdinand surprised him, opening his mouth in a way that Hubert met eagerly. 

Their erections had faded due to their discussion, but Hubert was not deterred. He could feel Ferdinand regaining interest with each thrust of his hips. Hubert moved back down Ferdinand's body, stopping to press a reverent kiss at the scar before taking Ferdinand's cock in hand. There was some sensation lost through the fabric, but he loved the way Ferdinand quaked whenever he wrapped gloved fingers around him.

Hubert hitched Ferdinand's leg over his shoulder, keeping an eye on the man’s face for any semblance of pain from the strain. Above him, Ferdinand let out a whimper of satisfaction and clutched at the sheets. Hubert had not had many people in his bed, but Ferdinand was the most responsive of them all. It pleased something deep and primal in him to have the man he adored fall apart beneath his hands. Once he was sure that Ferdinand was comfortable, he turned his head to bite the soft flesh of Ferdinand's thigh before moving to his hole. 

He lapped at the puckered skin, glad that Ferdinand was extremely fastidious about keeping himself clean. Hubert knew that between the hand on Ferdinand’s cock and his tongue at his hole, Ferdinand was having a hard time holding himself together. Ferdinand’s sensitivity had been unexpected when they had first started their tryst, but Hubert loved pushing it to the limit. Eventually, Ferdinand was able to relax enough to open up and Hubert pulled back to blow softly on the twitching muscle. 

“Clo...se,” Ferdinand gasped out.

Hubert's attention was drawn away from his lovely view and he slowly unhooked Ferdinand's knee from his shoulder to move back up the man's body, careful not to tear the taut muscles and risk reopening the wound. He placed the hand not currently occupied with Ferdinand's cock to the other's lips, dipping the tips of his fingers inside. Hubert could not help but grin when Ferdinand took the hint and bit down on the fabric edges just enough to be able to yank the glove back and off of his fingers. Once degloved, he held his hand to Ferdinand's mouth and pressed inside once again. He felt Ferdinand's tongue swirl around his fingers, an imitation of the sheer skill he had when fellating. 

His fingers sufficiently coated in saliva, he returned to Ferdinand's hole and pushed one inside. Ferdinand pitched his hips and wailed; Hubert could tell he was hanging on by a thread. He bent his head to engulf the tip of Ferdinand’s cock and moved the finger inside the man's ass to his prostate with a deftness born of their familiarity. Ferdinand twined his fingers back into Hubert's hair and came down Hubert's throat with a shout. Hubert swallowed down the bittersweet taste with pride, and fingered Ferdinand through the aftershocks. 

“Here, let me.” Ferdinand’s eyes were bright as he moved his hands in an attempt to reciprocate. 

“No, this was about you. I wanted to wring every bit of pleasure I could from you.” Hubert kept his voice low, whispering it into the crease of Ferdinand's thigh like a secret. “Before I lost you.”

“Lost me?” Ferdinand seemed confused. “Hubert, why would yo-“

“Because I let you die!” Hubert snapped, lifting his head to stare down at Ferdinand. “More than that, I chose to.”

“How did you choose to?” Ferdinand looked incredulous. “What decision did you make?” His voice was laced with anger low and intimate. “They filled me in on what you did to the one who tried to kill me, Hubert. How, when I fell prone to that man’s sword, he raised it again intending to let it fall upon my neck.” Hubert watched as Ferdinand drew his fingers across the marks Hubert had made earlier, a chain of purple cut across his throat. “Dorothea said that between one moment and the next it was as if all the shadows in the room coalesced into a thousand spikes of pure darkness and skewered him. She told me that she had never seen you look like you did then.”

“I...” Hubert tried weakly, fully aware he was fighting a losing battle.

“No. Enough of this.” Ferdinand cut him off “Hubert Von Vestra, you are the head of the imperial household. It is your job to protect the Emperor.” He slipped a hand down to cradle Hubert’s cheek.

”I stood at the foot of the stairs to the imperial throne because it is my duty as prime minister to protect what is best for Adrestia. By your logic, am I not at fault for my choice? Did I not choose to die to protect you both, to protect the empire? You cannot protect people from their own choices.“ Ferdinand paused and his mouth quirked into a smile. “Besides, you did save me. It was because of you that Linhardt could stabilize me safely.”

Hubert moved to lay down next to Ferdinand and folded himself around him, drawing Ferdinand into his chest.

“I am not a romantic. Most I encounter barely even see me as human,” Hubert murmured low Ferdinand’s ear. “If you wish to continue this, know that all I can promise you is that those who wish to ruin your goals will fail, all who attempt to harm you will no longer walk in the light of day, and there will be nights I will return with blood under my fingernails without an explanation regarding from whence it came.” Hubert danced his fingers across Ferdinand’s abdomen, enjoying how he shivered and pushed back into his arms.

“Not a romantic?” Ferdinand rolled over to face him. “Hubert. You were the first thing I saw when I woke up in the infirmary, and you spirited me away to your manor as soon as I was well enough to travel.” Ferdinand snuck a hand between them, circling Hubert’s cock in a light grip.“You are the last thing I see before I go to sleep. You’ve changed my bandages day in and day out, you arranged for our friends to visit on the days you weren’t around.” Hubert could scarcely even breathe as Ferdinand used his other hand to reach lower and fondle his balls.

Hubert couldn't help but buck into Ferdinand’s hands. He had been on the edge himself when Ferdinand had come, and Ferdinand’s ministrations brought blood rushing back into his cock. Ferdinand brought his index and middle fingers to his mouth, wetting them to the base of the second knuckle. The obscene ways Ferdinand could use his mouth were some of the many secrets Hubert would take to his grave. There was nothing like watching him scissor them in his own mouth, taking the time to curl his tongue around each digit. 

Ferdinand must have judged them wet enough, because he pulled them out with a wet pop and gestured for Hubert to sit up in their bed. Once he was situated to Ferdinand’s liking it was all he could do to fist the man's hair to keep it out of his face and hang on. Ferdinand bent his fingers and placed them on either side of Hubert’s glans, rolling them to stimulate the nerves there. He kept eye contact with Hubert, and for once, it was Hubert captured in someone's gaze, unable to do anything but tense his muscles and try to stave off his approaching orgasm. Ferdinand did not look away as he inclined his head and swirled his tongue around the tip of Hubert's glans. Between Ferdinand’s fingers still massaging the edges and his tongue stimulating the tip he made short work of Hubert's stamina. Ferdinand must have seen something in Hubert's eyes, because all at once he moved his hand and took Hubert to the base as his orgasm tore through him. 

Hubert used his purchase in Ferdinand's hair to pull him back up. He cut off whatever Ferdinand was about to say with a deep kiss, uncaring that he could taste himself on the man's tongue. Eventually it was Ferdinand who pushed away to nibble at Hubert’s earlobe. It had been Ferdinand who had discovered how sensitive Hubert's ears were, and he delighted in using that knowledge to his advantage. 

“I may not agree with everything you do, Hubert, but I trust you.” Ferdinand promised. “I know you will spend all your life ensuring the success of Lady Edelgard, our Empire, and… myself," he added.

Ferdinand took Hubert’s hands in his own and placed a kiss to the back of one like he was greeting Hubert at an imperial ball, before laying back down on his side. Hubert had no choice but to follow. He wrapped one of his arms around Ferdinand’s waist, tucking himself around Ferdinand once more, surrounding him in his larger frame. He felt Ferdinand’s breathing even out and relax into sleep, and Hubert kissed the nape of Ferdinand's neck, content to do the same.

**Author's Note:**

> TLDR I wrote an entire fic around the line “We killed our gods, and as I watched you bleed out I had no one with whom to bargain for your life.”


End file.
